Good point, but is it chicken or egg?

I think a lot of cities with truly good public transit developed as walking cities. The population was first, and the transit came after. Not always true - look at Barcelona - but my city (Melbourne Australia) is pretty cleanly defined into the part that developed before everyone had a car (radiating train lines serviced by trams), and areas that came after (radiating train lines serviced by buses, or not serviced at all).

You’re right, he’s only a convicted felon.

All systems have anomalies. A healthy system addresses the anomaly per the rules of the system. An unhealthy system breaks to accommodate the anomaly.